Official: Signs of progress as Idaho wildfires rage

By Mayra Cuevas and Michael Carry, CNN

Updated 9:07 PM ET, Tue August 20, 2013

Photos: Idaho wildfires15 photos

Idaho wildfires – Firefighters with private contract company Great Basin Fire douse part of the 104,457-acre Beaver Creek Fire in the Baker Creek area of Ketchum, Idaho, on Monday, August 19. The fire has forced the evacuation of several neighborhoods.

Photos: Idaho wildfires – A firefighting team walks along a fire line near homes on Croy Road and the Rotorun ski hill west of Hailey, Idaho, on Saturday, August 17. A wildfire raging across the central mountains of Idaho forced the evacuation of 200 homes in the tourist town of Hailey as firefighters lost ground against a blaze threatening the nearby international ski destination of Sun Valley.

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Photos: Idaho wildfires – A tanker helicopter drops water as a firefighter works to douse a hot spot at Beaver Creek on August 17.

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Idaho wildfires – Firefighters continue to battle the fire in the Wood River Valley as it drops down a canyon hillside west of Hailey on August 17.

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Idaho wildfires – Firefighters clear an area burned by the Beaver Creek Fire on August 17. Approximately 1,200 firefighters are working the blaze, with the help of helicopters, bulldozers and conventional engines.

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Photos: Idaho wildfires – A helicopter makes a drop while battling the Beaver Creek Fire on August 17.

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Photos: Idaho wildfires – Fire creeps down the western canyon wall above the Wood River in Hailey, Idaho, on August 17.

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Idaho wildfires – A helicopter battles the flames near Hailey on Friday, August 16. The Beaver Creek Fire was ignited by lightning on August 7.

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Idaho wildfires – A fire "whirl" can be seen as erratic wind conditions stir the flames of the fire on August 16.

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Idaho wildfires – Kevin Bullock, of Bellevue, Idaho, talks on a cell phone as smoke from the wildfire envelops a neighborhood.

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Idaho wildfires – John Koth climbs to the roof of a neighbor's house near Hailey to photograph the blaze on August 16.

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Idaho wildfires – Members of the Idaho City Hotshots work on burn-out operations around Pine, where the Elk Complex fire was burning on August 14.

Just Watched

Idaho fire scorches 100,000 acres

Atlanta, Idaho, is a historic mountain town located about 135 miles northeast of Boise. The community, which includes many second homes, is surrounded by the Boise National Forest. It was founded during the Civil War as a mining community -- a trade that attracted Haught and his wife Julie, originally from West Virginia.

"It's beautiful," said Julie Haught, "I'll never forget the first time I came here. I thought we had mountains in West Virginia, until I came here."

For Julie Haught, Atlanta is "a different world," full of history, charm and a close-knit community.

"You got to be here, visit and see why. It is very historic. A lot of these old buildings from back in the day are still here," she said, not wanting to think about the damage the fire would cause to the buildings in the little town she calls home.

But like its much larger namesake in the South, the Idaho town of Atlanta has risen from the ashes before.

According to Gene Haught, "The town has been wiped down by fire a couple of times in the 1800s and early in the 1900s."

His wife prays it won't come to that.

"I would miss all the beauty of what we got left. We are hoping and praying the fire doesn't come to this town," she said, "I have seen the destruction to other parts of the town. It will be really heartbreaking if it ends up looking like other burned down areas in the forest."